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Tag Archives: Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt waxed poetic about his love for “12 Years a Slave” — but admitted he’d started his stellar day by having to “pick up dog poop…in my bedroom.” Cate Blanchett swore her Aussie pride, Lupita Nyong’o spoke of honoring the spirits of slaves, and Jared Leto offered opportunities to fondle his Oscar in a night that ping-ponged between euphoria and thoughtfulness backstage at the 86th Academy Awards.

It was a historic night for Oscar, with “12 Years a Slave” filmmaker Steve McQueen becoming the first black man to win Best Picture honors, “Gravity’s” Alfonso Cuaron becoming the first Mexican to win Best Director, and Best Actress winner Cate Blanchett becoming Australia’s first double Oscar winner in the acting categories.

McQueen, who literally jumped up and down on the Oscar stage when his film took the top prize, claimed to be “cool as a cucumber” by the time he made it to the press room, but was clearly still on the verge of another happy dance, explaining that sometimes physicality just takes control. Some 75 years after “Gone With the Wind” gave moviegoers a romanticized view of antebellum slavery, McQueen noted that his film’s success shows “a progression. The background characters are now in the foreground. It’s indicative of what is going on right now; people now want to look at that history and embrace it.”

His fellow producer, Pitt, told us, “I love this movie. I love our film…This man in this inhumane situation trying to get back to his family…It’s important to understand our history — not for any kind of guilt, but to know who we were so we can better understand who we are…and who we’re going to be. It’s a gentle reminder that we’re all equal, that we all want the same dignity and humanity for our family, and that another’s freedom is as important as our own.”

The film team is particularly pleased that their movie has brought Solomon Northup’s memoir back into the spotlight. The long out-of-print book is a best seller now, and destined to be in high schools across the country. It’s noteworthy that the Academy was looking to update and diversify itself and Cheryl Boone Isaacs, its first black president, opened up the membership in hope of bringing in more diverse and younger members — which certainly did not hurt “12 Years a Slave’s” chances this year.

“12 Years a Slave” also won Best Supporting Actress honors for Lupita Nyong’o. Backstage, the It Girl of this Awards Season, admitted she was “a little dazed. I can’t believe this is in my hand. I can’t believe this is real life. I’m really overwhelmed.” Yet the stunning fashion world favorite was poised enough to talk about how moved she was by support in her native Kenya and around the world — including coming across an Instagram of hundreds of people holding a good luck sign. She had the presence of mind to touch again upon the fact that “12 Years a Slave” filmmaker Steve McQueen “honored people who really have been unsung for a really long time, doing this film. Their spirits have been honored.”

And, asked by a Chinese reporter what had been the most encouraging thing that had been said to her along the way, Nyong’o was thoughtful enough to respond that those words were from people who had said “from their hearts, that the outcome doesn’t matter. You’ve already won because the work has been done. Remembering that has kept me hopeful and positive and relaxed.”

As for celebrating, she was going to head to the Board of Governor’s Ball and “do all the things that are Oscar-related. It’s my first time here. I feel like Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory.”

So, apparently, did rock star cum Oscar winner Jared Leto (Best Supporting Actor, “Dallas Buyers Club”), He revved up the press room crowd early on by offering his Oscar to “anyone who wants to try it out for size…hold it…If you have swine flu, please — don’t touch,” he joked. “I bet this is a first — the first person to give their Oscar away for an orgy in the press room…Anyone else wanna fondle?”

He also offered the chance to take a selfie with his statuette, but was told the Academy doesn’t allow unauthorized pictures in the press room. He tweaked the Academy reps there, saying, “You guys want to get media — let the media do what they do!” Not surprisingly, he was answered with a huge round of cheers from the media. A few seconds later, sounding every bit the rock star, he rallied the crowd, “Who’s your favorite Oscar winner tonight?!”

Leto certainly made clear, on this “Hero”-themed night, that his personal hero is is mother, who was a single teen when she gave birth to him and his brother, but managed to raise them and give them wings of imagination as well. Backstage, he reiterated that the best thing about winning was having his mother and brother there with him — “the two most important people in my life…I’m really fortunate to be able to thank them in such a unique and grand way.”

Leto was asked about the comments he made to encourage dreamers out there, especially in Ukraine and Venezuela. He pointed out that, “You have an opportunity, when you stand on stage — you can make it about yourself, or you can take the opporunity to shine a light…For me, these global issues impact us in a real way. We have a show in Ukraine in a couple of weeks,” he said, referring to his 30 Seconds to Mars band’s touring schedule. Leto says he and his band “feel at home all over the world. Social unrest affects us in a real way.”

He was quick to acknowledge the work of fellow winners Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews, who did hair and makeup on “Dallas Buyers Club.” Their win was seen over the monitor while Leto was in the room. Pointing out that they’d had an unbelievable budget of $250.00, he said, “They work harder than anyone else; they’re there at the crack-ass of dawn and stay ’til the crack-ass of dawn.”

When Lee and Mathews came backstage, they said that they’d never met Jared until the Oscar Nominees’ Luncheon a couple of weeks ago — they knew him as Rayon. He was in character as the AIDS-stricken transvestite when he came to them and remained in character.

Leto was asked whether it’s better to be cheered onstage as a rock star, or to win an Oscar. His answer: “The good news is, I don’t have to choose.”

He left saying, “and thanks for getting my Oscar dirty with your fingerprints.”

Leto’s fellow “Dallas Buyers Club” winner, Best Actor Matthew McConaughey, said that despite being considered a lock by most Oscar prognoticators, “I did not expect it.”

The actor who decided to put his all into promoting the small-budget feature when it was made — and has reaped amazing results — noted, “It’s a bit of the end of a journey with this film, this script that came across my desk four years ago…Nobody wanted to make it for 20 years. It was turned down 137 times.” Getting the movie mad was “a miracle in itself,” he went on. Then it was received well at the Toronto Film Festival and “started to gain momentum. This is the gold standard of the light of excellence.”

He again expressed his gratitude for his wife’s support, and the fact that she’s taken their children to all his film locations — “It’s been harder for her than for me.” Asked what he hoped his children would take from this Oscar experience, he recounted telling them, “‘Remember when we were in New Orleans, the work that Dad did? People are shining a light on it today.’ I want them to see, if you do your best right now, it can come back and have reciprocity.”

Regal-looking Cate Blanchett, Best Actress winner for “Blue Jasmine,” said she “got to be a princess today.” She got a massage — “pummelled like Kobi beef” — and had the privelege of choosing between three dresses prepared for her by “Mr. Armani, with whom I have a long and great relationship.”

However, when a reporter began a question by stating that she’s the first Australian actress to win two Oscdars, she dropped the decorum to interrupt, “and don’t you f#@!ing forget it!”

Blanchett had phoned home and found her youngest child had “stopped vomiting, so that’s good.”

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and a special thank-you to the readers who joined in with their votes and comments for our 34th Annual Tacky Taste Awards. In a year when some of the biggest scandals in the news — from Penn State to politics — took place outside the Hollywood realm, there’s still a banquet of show business celebrity turkeys to chew on. And heeeeere they are.

1. Kim Kardashian & Family. Riled up over Kim’s 72-day marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries, readers voted to bestow 1st Place, Tackiest Celebrities of the Year dishonors on the Kardashian clan. Among the comments:

“KarTRA$Hian is KarKA$Hingin — the fake marriage down to the crappy clothes at Sears.” — Hannah L., New York, NY

“She went from saying Kris was so nice and down to earth to saying he was only in it to climb the fame ladder practically overnight. Of course people are suspicious. She made more than $17 million from the wedding.” — Pam R.,Canton, OH.

Steve M. from Dallas, TX had a different take: “I think all the dimwits who watch the Kardashian family and then complain about them deserve a Tacky award. Idiots, change the channel!”

2. Chuck Lorre and Charlie Sheen So many voters mentioned the “Two and a Half Men” creator and his former star together, it seemed appropriate to reunite them just this one last time in the annals of Tacky Taste. For example:

From Julia in AZ: “Charlie Sheen’s year of tirades, drugs and hookers and Chuck Lorre’s repeated endcaps and on-air rebuttles have really done it for me. I thought by now the banter would be over and bringing in Ashton would let the show stand on its own, but Chuck doesn’t seem to want to let go. Week after week they have to rehash all of Charlie’s downfalls. Come on, kill the show now if you are going to make it a year of Charlie-channeling. Even Charlie seems to have learned to shut his mouth.”

G.M. in Santa Monica, CA wrote, “Not that I’m buying Charlie Sheen’s good behavior act, but Chuck Lorre needs to get over being bitter and stop sniping at Charlie and try to improve the show, which sucks now.”

In the opinion of witty Bernice R. of Naples, FL, “It has been a close race this year for the Tacky Taste Award. Charlie Sheen was the star of the pack early on, but his admitting to his foolish rages took the edge off criticizing him. Darn. But then when all seemed lost, Kim Kardashian came along with her whirlwind romance, brain-free husband, check cashing acrobatics and surprise (not) divorce, and challenged Charlie for the lead. I’ve got it! How about a Tacky Couple Award? Theirs would be a match made in Hollywood heaven. Oh, those two have got to meet, or what’s a Hollywood for?”

3. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Grace H. of Burbank sums it up: “Former governator Arnold Schwarzenneger makes Bill Clinton look like a cub scout. First he let Maria find out the hard way that he sired a child by his housekeeper. Then after they split up he went out in public sporting a T shirt that said, “I survived Maria 1977 – 2010.”

And this comment from reader Linda D.: “Arnold Schwarzenegger deserves the award for being unfaithful to his wife, family, and the state of California. And then having the bad taste to wear an ‘I survived Maria’ t-shirt.”

Agrees Paula G.: “It has to be the Arnold: what he has done to Maria Shriver is so awful. I used to like him, but now, I am not interested in seeing anything he does. Thank goodness he’s no longer the Governor of California.”

4. Gerard Depardieu. “Gerard Depardieu deserves your award, hands down, for urinating in the aisle of a plane after being told he had to wait until after takeoff to use the bathroom, causing a two-hour flight delay. If one of us mere mortals did that, we’d be arrested.” — Ken, Tacoma, WA.

Peggy S. of Los Angeles voted for Depardieu, adding, “I want to mention Anderson Cooper also. It was one thing to get the giggles during his report about l’affaire Depardeiu — but then to have Depardieu on his talk show to discuss the incident, and hand out peepee bottles to everyone in the audience? That was Tacky. But I still love Anderson.”

5. Lindsay Lohan. The troubled actress, who has been doing community service at the L.A. morgue as a result of violating her probation, drew tacky votes for “blowing chance after chance to straighten out,” as J.Y. of Bell, CA put it.

“Lindsay Lohan gets my vote. You know you’ve hit bottom when Heidi Fleiss gets on TV and congratulates you for posing for Playboy and says you’d make a great hooker.” — Tara K., Ohio

6. Kate Gosselin. “As always, the tackiest person in America is Kate Gosselin,” contends Dee W. She explains: “From her trashy clothing to her constant bashing of the father of her children, she epitomizes the word tacky. Her classifiying her ex as ‘mediocre’ because he prefers to work a regular job and live out of the spotlight was classic Kate.”

“I would rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than that whiney b#@! any day.” — George F., Woodland Hills, CA

7. Jesse James. The reality show star got a late flurry of votes after his ex, Kat Von D, went public with her claim that he’d cheated on her with at least 19 women during their engagement. “Wasn’t he supposed to have been treated for sex addiction after his cheating wrecked his marriage to Sandra Bullock? Jesse, you tacky dog, you should demand your money back.” — L.Z.

8. Courteney Cox and David Arquette. “Their over-sharing about their sex life problems on Howard Stern’s show has tainted my feelings about them. Really, Courteney, thought you had more class than to dispense such intimate details with gutter language. Sad for Coco.” — Linda W., Peoria, IL

9. Hank Williams, Jr., ESPN and “Fox and Friends.” The singer’s remark, on “Fox and Friends,” making an analogy using President Obama and Hitler, got his iconic theme song cut from Monday Night Football after 20 years — and both sides chimed in:

`”Hank totally got the shaft. If you read the transcript, he never said Obama was like Hitler. His conservative politics is what really got him ousted from MNF. And he’s right that ‘Fox and Friends’ set him up.” — Dan H.

On the other hand, S.B. of Long Island, NY, wrote, “Who gives a damn what Hank Williams Jr. thinks? He’s a right-wing crackpot with no talent. Glad to see him go.”

10. Brad Pitt. “Some people continue to add insult to dumping their spouses overboard. Brad Pitt told Dotson Rader of Parade Magazine that his life was boring when he was married to Jennifer Aniston. Quote, “I wasn’t living an interesting life, myself. I think that my marriage [to Jennifer Aniston] had something to do with it.” – Grace H., Burbank, CA

“He was very accessible on the set — a truly great mentor, master of his craft,” gushes Bond, who was drafted by the San Francisco Giants and then played for three years in the minors before switching to an acting career. “The thing I remember most that he said — after we filmed the first cut of a scene, naturally I wanted to go look at the playback. He said, ‘Casey, don’t look at the first playback, ever. It will screw you up every time, I promise.’ No need to go and look and start thinking too much.”

The real-life saga of Oakland A’s manger Billy Beane, who revolutionized the game with his modernized, analytical, sabermetric approach to assembling a competitive baseball team, “Moneyball” also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill and Chris Pratt. Complete with cameos by some recognizable faces in the sports world, it already boasts more verisimilitude than the average baseball flick. “Being a former professional baseball player myself, the authenticity of this thing is beyond any baseball movie I’ve seen,” says Bond, who has been amassing credits in commercials and print ads for the likes of Nike and One-A-Day Men’s Vitamins while studying acting.

Bradford is known for his extreme submarine style pitching, which Bond says came pretty naturally to him, “but it was strange to get used to. When he pitches — when I pitch — his knuckles almost scrape the ground. After I read for the part, they took me out to see if I could do it,” recounts Bond, who was an outfielder in his professional career. “After they saw I could pitch, I had a meeting with Brad Pitt. It was more of a conversation, one person to another, more about getting to know each other than an interview. I guess if you’re going to be on a film with someone for eight weeks, you want to find out what kind of person they are. He was extremely down to earth.”

Once Bond (www.thecaseybond.com.) got the part, he went into training to perfect his style. A current “Moneyball” trailer opens with Bond throwing right into the camera — a shot managed in one take, he says, with the camera safely behind a plexiglass shield, of course.